Nigeria, Aug. 7 -- A post has been making rounds across social media-one that lists the new directors appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Governor Yemi Cardoso. The names, sixteen in all, have been dissected with surgical precision, and the conclusion that's gone viral is this: ten are Yoruba, while the Hausa and Igbo share the remaining six equally. And with that, the ever-familiar cry resurfaces-Tinubu's government is nepotistic, or, as some have mockingly put it, he is "the president of the Oduduwa Republic."

In truth, verifying the exact ethnic identities behind every name is tricky. But the appointments did happen-around March this year-and the political and emotional waves they've stirred are real and loud. This ar...